The bright rays of the early morning sun shot through the pink and purple sky, its sheen gradually blanketing the remnants of the Denver city-state like a smock of false hope. Birds began tweeting their early morning songs, fluttering about the skies and gathering their food for their young. Children of all ages gathered in one single thrown together building one could only call a schoolhouse for their daily lessons. Guards working their overnights, who were patrolling the hastily built wall encircling what was left of the civilization, broke shifts with the early birds before retiring to their homes for the day, if one could even call small metal huts that. That was life in the remnants of Denver since the War of 1999, and to call rebuilding a challenge was an understatement for the city-state. Since the country broke into several regions known across the globe as the Americas, the Rocky Mountain Coalition got the shortest straw for just about everything. From food and water, to simple supplies and toilet paper, the beings living together here needed to pool their own efforts to make a fully-functioning society without a proper economy to sustain their way of life. The lifestyle had been so for over six decades; when were those demon lords who fixed the Anarchic State going to make good on their promise and send their Court nobles their way for the assistance they desperately needed? Tales were spun of their achievements down in Hell, how they were able to turn the infamous city of Gehenna into a practical capitalism from its obvious oligarchical dictatorship and how they applied those methods to Massachusetts with success. When these tales reached these people's ears, they were hopeful for the first few months. However, impatience was quick to seep into their waters of fortitude and for the decades thereafter, what was left of Denver both in terms of morale and infrastructure devolved into a lifestyle that made anarchy desirable.

Fighting, bloodshed, every-man-for-himself...
A competitive lifestyle which resulted in a constantly fluctuating population count, mostly a negative change, became the norm. The only form of order the city-state ever saw was the populace dividing into their own gangs. Not much of a coalition, now, wasn't it? There were constant gang wars that flared up in the ruined streets on a daily basis, usually starting with a fiery cocktail to an already charred building. There was the occasional drive-by shooting, the shotgun assault, the bar fight, and even the egging and TP'ing by the children from the various gangs. When it became too much to bear, a pair of brothers, neither of whom were blood related, felt it was necessary to shoulder the burden themselves and try to restore some form of order to the divided people of the Denver city-state. A bear demon by the name of Salvador Octavius and his younger brother, a razak named Gustav, brought the peaceful fight to the gangs, risking life and limb to attempt a rebuild of their messed up society. They were residents of the Rocky Mountain Coalition for as long as they could remember, even before the bombings of the Rocky Mountain States in 1999. They were adopted by a small and poor family of already intermingling species of demons, none of whom were blood related but were tighter than any actual blood family the Americas had ever seen. Their mother and father soon died while defending the Rockies, and Salvador became the man of the house with Gustav acting as his right-hand man. Sal was the brains; Gus was the muscle. They worked perfectly off each other. This being said, it was only natural that they could bring an end to the gangs' rivalries and try to unite them all under a single banner representing the spirit of Colorado.

There was still much to do, but when Sal brought to these people's attention that they needed to work with each other rather than against in order to survive this harsh post-apocalyptic world--a world that even Hellion lords found difficulty trying to repair--morale completely 180'd. Quickly, they began rebuilding. Given how the city-state looked currently, it wasn't much of a rebuild. But at least the beings had shelter, food and water. There wasn't much and there were periods where they were struggling to get by, having to ration their consumables and supplies, but the spirit was there. There was a growing love and appreciation for one another. There was a ray of hope, much like the new sunrise warming the cold city-state. There was peace, and the knowledge that one day, everything in their burning rubble of a town was going to be okay. That was all owed to Sal and Gus Octavius, the new leaders of the Rocky Mountain Coalition.

Sal, the bear demon of average muscle and build, coffee-colored skin and dark brown hair cut into a long and messy mohawk style, woke up to his obnoxiously loud alarm. He rolled off his cot, throwing on his clothes for the day--an off-white tanktop with a few dark grease stains, a pair of gray jogging pants and fading, ripping steel-toe boots. A leather jacket with the letters "RMC" embroidered on the back completed his ensemble. He quickly brushed the long mohawk, slicking it back with a small amount of hairgel before making his way out of his small hut to his makeshift outdoor restaurant just a few homes down the dirt road. "Outside Octavius" was its name. It was nothing catchy, but it didn't need to be; they weren't planning on being a successful chain restaurant any time soon. Under the canopy, the muscular form of Gus greeted him with his trademark smile, already firing up the grill and cooking the breakfast meats for the morning's breakfast gathering. Sal grinned, dark brown eyes meeting his younger brother's light blue ones, and as he approached his brother the two closed the gap with a quick familial hug.
"Finally taking the initiative, I see, Gus," Sal said teasingly, patting the larger man's back. "But I think you should leave the cooking to the professionals," he added with a soft chuckle, nodding to the rack of beef ribs Gus threw over the fire. The younger, taller demon laughed and shrugged, placing a Broncos sports hat over his light brown and pony-tailed hair.

"Figured, since today's the big day we make our announcement, I set everyone up with a nice and hearty breakfast," Gus explained cheerfully as Sal threw his black apron over his own form. As the muscled man threw more meats on the grill, he added, "And besides, we want to make sure our pick for today's a wise pick. Last thing we need is a regression, right, Big Bro?"

Sal washed his hands at the water pump, only a single pump of water doing the trick, nodding in silent agreement...not exactly silent, more of an affirmative grunt. He grabbed a spatula and pulled a few pounds of ground beef from inside the ice chest next to the pump.
"We also wanna make sure our picks for our job are smart, too," Sal added, forming patties on a small metal slab one could only call the table. "What we're doing, where we're going, our goal, and what we need to bring back...this isn't just going to be a simple one-day trip."
"Oh, I'm sure these people will know that, Sal," Gus replied with a nod, poking at the beef ribs to make sure they were cooking properly. "But they also know we can deliver results." He stopped for a moment, gazing up at the red and white striped canopy cloth in thought. He then sighed. "I do have my doubts, though..."
"Why doubts? What is it you're doubting?" Sal asked. He stacked the patties on top of one another, using sheets of paper to separate the meat form one another, before bringing them over on a tray to slap onto the grill.

Gus looked down at his older brother, a frown creasing his lips. Sal didn't like that; the normally confident musclehead was worried about something. Worry was not in the man's nature. If anything, worry was the man's enemy, an enemy he beat out of the city-state every day with a one-two punch.
"...what if the demon lords say no? Or better yet...what if they ask for our people's souls in return?"
It was Sal's turn to stop and think now. His brow furrowed as he stared down the thick sizzling burgers. The man had a point. The demon lords they planned on visiting were...well...Hellion nobles. What was it Hellion nobles were infamous for? That's right. Deals. Deals usually involving souls or lives of some kind. Or favors they could not refuse doing. Sal knew that Lucifer was no more, at least in Hell. But who was to say his influence still lingered over all the Hellbound demons? Who was to say the two lords who turned the Anarchic State around didn't use shady two-timing methods? He blinked, snapping out of his trance. The questions were done, and if Sal asked more questions, he was going to breed more self-doubt. The only way to be sure was to find out for themselves.

"We'll work it out, Gus," Sal said. "No one's getting our people's souls. We'll die before we give up our hard work like that." He wanted badly to pat Gus on the shoulder reassuringly, but that was unsanitary; there was still ground beef and fat left on the palms of his hands! Gus smiled, his trust in his older bro still strong and true. Sal smiled back shooting a wink. "Now what do ya say we get some meat grilled and some people fed, eh?"

General Area: The first leg of the adventure takes place in a Mad Max-esque version of Denver, CO, which since the War of 1999 has been reduced to a struggling city-state in the middle of what is now lawless territory. Just outside the border, the landscape is dusted in light layers of snow with patches of green grass poking through. The further out one wanders, the thicker the snow layers and the less abundant the grass becomes. Eventually, there is nothing but chunky, rocky terrain and smashed up asphalt roads. There are the occasional abodes built from the ruins of Denver’s largest structures all over the snowy wasteland, each being home to ragtag gangs of criminals. Beyond the eastern horizon, makeshift mountains made from rubble and shifted landscape beckon travelers as a challenge to overcome them. To the west lie unknown unknowns…and the beginning of the Rocky Mountain Desert.

Anticipated Enemies and Boss Characters:
-Ragtag thugs with vehicles ranging from old Harleys to improvised artillery jeeps and weaponry ranging from chain whips to WWII era rocket launchers (they’re poor as crap, okay?)
-Escaped experimental beings possessing three or more genotypes from several distinct species of beings from an abandoned ANGEL* research facility nestled away somewhere underground
-Rabid wildlife
-Infected zombie-like beings
-Vanilla, Second Seed of the Red Blood Moon Children*

Notes:
*ANGEL was a powerful conglomerate which gripped the global economy where it hurt most: the balls. Its purpose was to cleanse the world of threatening supernatural beings while powering humans up with their genetics to combat these threats. With that as their marketing slogan, and a formidable military of super soldiers quickly on the rise, humanity felt it was safest to invest their money into the company. Following its downfall by the two demon lords Daymian Apollo Cruxis (Now Daymian Mikhail Cruxis) and Itachi Hiro Kumaria, its fate was solidified—all laboratories and research facilities spread throughout the globe were soon shut down and all scientists were left without work. In the fleeting time ANGEL crumbled under its own weight, all upper management could not dispose of experimental beings in a proper and safe manner. In turn, many of these experimentals eventually broke free from their prisons and wandered the landscape the world over. Currently, the largest threats of these beings are found mostly in the Americas and in southeastern Germany.

**The Red Blood Moon Children is an organization dedicated to reviving the Beast of Legend (whatever that is!). They hail from a parallel universe called Athentha, and led by the First Seed, Garnet, they are—for the most part—very well put together. Vanilla will be serving as a primary antagonist throughout most of this campaign, under Garnet’s orders…or else, she will get the velvet ropes again!
Credit to my friend on my own site, Rin, for creation of the organization and the characters, and for allowing me to use them for this campaign.

***There is an overall plan to this insanity. For the most part, we can wing it, but let's try to keep some focus on the plot. I promise you, there is something awesome coming of this. Any questions, feel free to PM me on here or message on me Discord @ Lord Bartex#0125